Feedback by anonymous posters

As a relatively new contributor of Lit stories, I've read this thread with considerable interest.

While my experience is limited, a number of things stand out for me, but before I go on to talk about them, I should point out that in the real world I want readers to enjoy my writing because (a) they've paid me for the privilege and (b) I want them to buy my next title. I write erotica because I enjoy inventing situations (ok, sometimes there's an autobiographical element in there) and writing about them. If people don't enjoy reading the stuff I submit to Lit, that's their lookout.

Taking into account that basic premise, a few thoughts on matters raised...

Comments in general
Comments can occasionally be either interesting, useful or just plain funny. Others are of minimal value. I work on the basis that if I feel a comment is useful, etc, I will respond to it, either accepting the points made or explaining why I disagree. If it's not worthy of a response, it gets deleted.

I like trying out different writing styles and techniques and it is better to experiment on Lit than in something that has to get past a publisher. Comments and votes that tell me whether it's worked or not can be invaluable.

The comments I find the most pointless are those that say, for example, 'I don't like short stories' or base their judgement of a story on the moral issues involved. If you don't like short stories or you don't like cheating wives, read something else, don't vote a story down because of it. Perhaps you should have to record your likes and dislikes in your profile so that you can be blocked from reading (and voting on) unsuitable stories. (Only kidding.) Lots of people prefer short stories - as far as I'm concerned, one page is good, three pages or more and you've lost me, unless it's very tightly written - so don't vote a story down simply because it's short unless you want me to start voting down over-length stories. The same applies with the subject matter. If you know you're going to be biased against it before you start reading, don't read, don't comment, don't vote.

LW really does seem to attract the barking mad. I've concluded that the reason they have so much time on their hands - along with god knows what else - is because their wives have left them for someone else and they're wreaking their revenge.

Anonymous comments
There really is little point in blocking anonymous comments. Those who are intent on being nasty will simply create a throwaway account to use instead. One commenter on my stories has presumably discovered that we can turn off anonymous comments and has therefore created a number of accounts (impo_nn) instead, some of which have been banned. (Question: do votes cast by subsequently-banned members still count?)

The New list
Not surprisingly, trolls seem to especially target the new stories list. All of my stories seem to get a much lower rating when they first come out compared to their rating after a few weeks, I was intrigued to find that one of my stories achieved just 2.5 on its first day out. Within a few days it had reached 3.5 and continued climbing. That suggests there were a good few 1* and 2* votes on the first day and not many after that. A simple way of limiting that might be to exclude the top 10/20 and the bottom 10/20 of the votes cast while a story is on the New list.

It is also my impression, based on nothing particularly concrete, that brand new writers get the most trolling. Why is it that I have a nagging thought that it might suit certain established authors to deter new ones who might one day supplant them?

Final thought
I shall probably get blown up for saying this but the story-related threads on here do seem to be remarkably intolerant. Doesn't encourage participation.

Is it possible that stories that cater to more extreme sexual behavior- BDSM, fetish, cuckolding, etc- will in general attract more negative comments, simply due to the fact that a lot of people understandably are not into those things (or even, find them repugnant?) I can certainly understand that, but I would think, if you categorize your story as such when you publish it, or put it in the tag lines, that people who are turned off by that kind of thing wouldn't bother reading it in the first place.

I suspect that a lot of stories get flamed simply because the reader is not "into" what the subject or tagline is about.

I don't like incest, interracial porn, or purely male-male sex (unless the latter is coerced by a dominant female in a BDSM setting) but- I see no point to bother reading, or commenting, on such stories in the first place.

anonymous comments

I have received my share of anonymous comments, both positive and negative. I don't mind these. Even the critical ones. I don't always agree with them, but the reader is entitled to their opinion and at times, I have taken some of their advice.

In fact I have have maintained a correspondence with a reader who had given me some criticism.

I also receive the hate-filled comments. Although, these don't bother me much, I often wonder what kind of pleasure they get by trashing someone else's work. Especially, those who try to impose their morality on me. If you don't like certain types of stories...Don't read them.

As long as they allow anonymous comments, and I see no reason to stop them, we who write and post our work on Lit will receive the hate mail.

So be it.

I had a friend here in the AH tell me how to turn off the anonymous feedback comments to where the one leaving the comment had to use their profile name if they wanted to leave a comment. I thought that was pretty neat. And yes, I know some jackasses have throwaway/multiple profiles for no other purpose than to rig the damn voting BS. I have one profile, I use it, and it's a pain in the ass to keep up with just that one. But, hey, I'm not ashamed to use that one and only profile I have

Then, I went through and deleted the anonymous comments that really should have been sent to me through email/PM instead of being posted on my stories. So what if I delete a comment or three. No big deal. It's my choice to keep the ones I want to keep. It's also my choice to delete the ones I want to delete.
Kant

bmunchausen said:

I have received my share of anonymous comments, both positive and negative. I don't mind these. Even the critical ones. I don't always agree with them, but the reader is entitled to their opinion and at times, I have taken some of their advice.

In fact I have have maintained a correspondence with a reader who had given me some criticism.

I also receive the hate-filled comments. Although, these don't bother me much, I often wonder what kind of pleasure they get by trashing someone else's work. Especially, those who try to impose their morality on me. If you don't like certain types of stories...Don't read them.

As long as they allow anonymous comments, and I see no reason to stop them, we who write and post our work on Lit will receive the hate mail.

So be it.

Click to expand...

I got this one today. It will be only the second comment I have ever deleted and I have tolerated a lot of mean spirited comments. This was NOT a cuckold story, It was a story about a guy whose wife and daughter are abducted by space pirates and sold into slavery where they are forced into an incestuous lesbian relationship. He moves heaven and earth to get them back, and does. I don't mind even name calling if they are on target. I KNOW that posting in "Loving Wives" means having to don asbestos underwear and I let the dweebs rant and rave, but this is really uncalled for. The story is well rated with a high 4, this is the first comment it has produced. What nerve do we writers strike to release such vitriol?

"Dude, you are both a pussy and a cuck.
You seem to have mommy issues as well. Get help or just suicide out."

Wifetheif said:

What nerve do we writers strike to release such vitriol?

"Dude, you are both a pussy and a cuck.
You seem to have mommy issues as well. Get help or just suicide out."

Click to expand...

Some people are just miserable in their own lives, and if they can lash out and make someone else feel insecure or angry, then they can feel powerful for a few minutes or seconds.

Which is why ignoring them or deleting without comment is usually the best tactic. These people can't distinguish between good and bad attention -- they just want attention. It's their drug.

autoplot said:

Some people are just miserable in their own lives, and if they can lash out and make someone else feel insecure or angry, then they can feel powerful for a few minutes or seconds.

Which is why ignoring them or deleting without comment is usually the best tactic. These people can't distinguish between good and bad attention -- they just want attention. It's their drug.

Click to expand...

I glory in miserable louts. I add the best/worst comments to my .sig. Best are the death threats from people who only scanned the first paragraphs and hated it. I especially like the guy who said it had no plot -- that's because it's an essay.

I've deleted only one comment and I was immediately regretful. The best responses come from those attacking the fucktards on my behalf. I can sit back and laugh.

On occasion I post a comment using 'anomymous' as a name. I only do this when I'm the editor of the story. If I feel a need to make suggestions to an author, I'll sent them a pm.

Hypoxia said:

I glory in miserable louts. I add the best/worst comments to my .sig. Best are the death threats from people who only scanned the first paragraphs and hated it. I especially like the guy who said it had no plot -- that's because it's an essay.

I've deleted only one comment and I was immediately regretful. The best responses come from those attacking the fucktards on my behalf. I can sit back and laugh.

Click to expand...

The comment slapfights can be funny on occasion, it's true.

Even a vitriolic anonymous comment is a more significant reaction to a story than an author gets from most readers.

The person who makes the comment has taken the trouble to type (sometimes to copy and paste ) their response. That is a significant effort compared with voting.

It is worth a little of an author's time to consider WHY a comment was written even if the content was abusive. For some comments that time could be measured in single figures of seconds but others could produce insight such as 'Did I choose the wrong category?'; 'Did I mislead the readers?'.

I posted my first story recently and noticed how harsh a couple anon comments could be. Some I felt were a bit harsh and demotivating at first. After reviewing my story I did realize there were some mistakes. I also got positive comments as well that motivated me to continue and improve.

I wouldn't want to remove a comment, even if I think it's just trolling.

I found the mix of positive and negative to me motivating. This is why I do plan on posting more stories and improving my work.

I only remove the anon comments that resort to name-calling. If someone just has a petty complaint I find dumb or unconstructive, I just let it go.

Until recently, I accepted all anonymous comments positive and negative. I always do a sweep and delete the ones that retort to name-calling and trolling. Yes, my stories tend to have mistakes here and there. Yes, I have typos and sometimes an error that I missed before submitting, it happens.


I recently discovered a setting to turn off anonymous comments, and I have been forced into this action. I have had to deal with a certain troll who was banned from this site many times over, that still loved to use the comment section of my story to post numerous death threats and hateful messages. The only way I can stop the harassment is to not allow anonymous comments anymore.

Anon

Groups of mass-voting fanboys... one bombing of rivals... feuds that span years... welcome to Literotica!

It sucks.

But this is the nature of the beast. We start with the basic lack of decorum that the Internet is known to possess, then add a few thousand lonely sexual deviants, and finally (shudder...), we allow the group of faaabulous artistes ( the other authors) free reign to comment on one another's work.

If you can think of a way to fix this, you just might be a science fiction author.

Still Receiving Anonymous Feedback: Bug?

Even though I opted out of receiving anonymous feedback, I’m still receiving it. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you!